Report of the Pasadena Municipal Lighting Works

Citation

Hill, Harold Curtis and Lewis, Stanley Morton and Ward, Royal Vincent (1911) Report of the Pasadena Municipal Lighting Works. Bachelor's thesis, California Institute of Technology. doi:10.7907/1byw-h596. https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechTHESIS:10022018-113716323

Abstract

A proposal was made by Mr. Thum to President Scherer that certain of the students of Throop Polytechnic Institute be given the task of making a report on the Municipal Lighting Works of Pasadena. For expenditures in connection with such a report Mr. Thum very kindly offered to deposit a certain sum with the Institute. This offer was taken under consideration by the Faculty, and upon investigation of the time at the disposal of the various students, the problem was placed before the Senior Class as an elective subject for a thesis.

This offer the Senior Class was very glad to accept, and work was commenced at the beginning of the second semester of the year 1910-1911. A rough outline of the various items to be taken up in such a report was furnished by Prof. Sorensen and later suggestions were made by Dean Damon. As actually accomplished, the work covers a detailed description of the plant and distribution system with drawings and maps, an appraisement of the property, a summary of segregated costs, capacities, etc., a statement of the general methods employed in financing public utilities, various suggestions as to possible improvements, and a partial description of the accounting system in use by the Municipal Lighting Works.

The figures found in the summary may be considered as accurate to within five per cent. of the cost of the plant altho sufficient time was not available for a detailed study of this phase of the problem. The idea has been rather to obtain data from which rough estimates of similar equipment could be made.

Thesis Files